


Just a Party Kiss

by Freezeurbrain



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Drunken Kissing, Halloween, Halloween parties, Jake Dillinger Played by Britton Smith, Jake is a Bi Disaster but he doesn’t know it yet, M/M, Parties, STOP SLEEPING ON TROY!RICH Y’ALL, Sexuality Crisis, Troy Iwata as Rich, Truth or Dare, Underage Drinking, one (1) Barbie reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 08:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19720267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freezeurbrain/pseuds/Freezeurbrain
Summary: A game of Truth or Dare. A kiss. And an intense realization from Jake that he might like Rich in a way that’s just a tad not-platonic.(Takes place in the same universe as A Chance To Change Everything, but you do not need to read that to understand this fic.)





	Just a Party Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> Before this starts, this does take place a year before the events of A Chance To Change Everything, but you do not need to read that story in order to understand this fic. If you are interested in reading it, however, here is the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17901449/chapters/42261026

Truth or Dare was fun. Parties with alcohol were also fun. But mixing Truth or Dare and parties with alcohol almost never ended well. So could _somebody_ explain to Jake Dillinger why he had agreed to a game of Truth or Dare at his Halloween party, a game where pretty much everyone playing had been drinking a substantial amount? 

As he sat on the floor with his girlfriend Chloe Valentine on his left and his best friend Rich Goranski on his right, he had never been more doubtful of his decision-making skills. But he couldn’t very well back out now, and that was why he was watching Brooke Lohst belt a horrifically off-key rendition of “I’m A Girl Like You” from the Barbie Princess and the Pauper movie with a Corona in his hand. 

Brooke finished up the song with an exaggerated bow, and the circle of people playing the game responded with drunken applause. 

“All right, who’s next?” Chloe asked, taking a sip from a cup that definitely didn’t contain just plain Coca-Cola. 

“I think Jake’s next.” Dustin Kropp said, pointing with only one hand, because his other hand was holding something that was _not_ a plain cigarette. 

“All right, Jake.” Brooke said, shifting in her seat. “Truth or Dare?” 

Jake momentarily weighed the options mentally, but the alcohol in his system made it hard to hold onto the thoughts for more than a few seconds before Jake blurted out “Dare.” 

“All right.” A messy smirk came over Brooke’s face. “Kiss the person to your right for ten seconds.” 

“Brooke!” Chloe looked appalled, and Jake couldn’t figure out why until he remembered _who_ was on his right. 

_Rich._

He glanced over at Rich, who looked just as confused as Jake was until his and Jake’s eyes met, and then Rich’s face turned scarlet as he too realized what this dare implied. 

“Oh, shit.” Brooke’s eyes widened as she made ‘L’ shapes with both of her hands, staring down at them. “Oh, that’s _my_ right.” She groaned as she looked up at Chloe. “Sorry, Chlo.” 

“Hey, it’s just a kiss.” Rich said, and even though he chuckled slightly, the hesitation in his voice was evident. 

“We don’t have to do it if you guys aren’t cool with it.” Dustin said. 

Jake shook his head. “Nah. It’s good. Jakey D. doesn’t back down from a dare.” He put his beer down and shifted to face Rich, who did the exact same thing. _This is not a big deal. You’re straight, and Rich is straight. It’s just a stupid dare, and you won’t even remember this tomorrow._

“You guys ready?” Dustin asked, and out of the corner of his eye, Jake could see Dustin taking out his cell phone and opening the stopwatch app. 

“Yep.” Rich nodded. 

“Sure am.” Jake took a breath. 

“All right. One... two... three...” Dustin tapped something on his phone screen. “Go.” 

And Rich leaned forward, and his and Jake’s lips met, and _holy shit_. 

He hasn’t expected to feel the same way as he’d felt when he first kissed Chloe... he hadn’t expected to feel anything at all. But he definitely felt something, and not an awkward _Geez-I’m-Kissing-My-Best-Friend_ feeling. This felt... different. He’d read about people with glasses seeing the world in detail for the first time, but he never thought he’d ever experience that feeling for himself. 

Evidently, he’d been wrong. 

Ten seconds seemed to last an eternity as Jake became acutely aware of everything about the kiss. The way Rich’s lips were chapped and felt rough against his own, and how they tasted like vodka and fruit punch. The way that Jake’s own heartbeat, which had been so calm and steady before the kiss, had suddenly accelerated until it was the only thing Jake could hear. Jake’s nose bumped against Rich’s awkwardly, and Jake _almost_ adjusted his head so that they fit better together. But then he remembered that this was just a party kiss with his just-best-friend. Nothing more.

“...eight, nine, ten.” 

Jake pulled himself away, gasping faintly for breaths that he hadn’t realized he’d been starved of until that very moment. And he could still feel Rich’s lips on his, as he looked over and realized that Rich’s face, which had been red before, was now a distinct shade of crimson. Jake had never been more grateful for dark skin, which made it easy to hide even the most profuse blushing.

“Well...” Jake clapped his hands together, desperate to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the circle. “I told you guys I wouldn’t back down from a dare.”

And with that, it was like the kiss had never even happened. He _did_ end up kissing Chloe that night on another dare from Brooke, who used the correct side this time. And it was nice. Smooth, the kind where Jake could smell the vanilla-scented conditioner in Chloe’s hair and he pulled away with lipstick smudged on his face. But it didn’t get his mind off of the kiss with Rich. 

Even after everyone had gone home and Jake was left alone in an empty house that he was too tired to bother with cleaning, that one kiss refused to leave his mind. And that just-party-kiss was actually having some kind of effect on him. His face got hot when he so much as thought about kissing Rich, his heartbeat sped up, and thinking about kissing Rich _again_... that very idea made Jake lightheaded. 

Was it possible that he... could he actually _like_ Rich? 

_No._ He wasn’t gay. He definitely liked Chloe. But that kiss had definitely engraved itself in Jake’s mind, and it didn’t look like it was planning on leaving anytime soon. And even as Jake drifted off to sleep, one thing was abundantly clear. 

That had been a little more than just a party kiss.


End file.
